Haunted
by HayleyBailey
Summary: Damon's wife, Elena, is kidnapped when she is 7 months pregnant. A story of grief, desperation, and hope. AH.
1. Prologue

**This isn't going to be a very long fic. I'm shooting for around 10 chapters. There will be a few time jumps (from what I've planned there will be 2 or 3 of them). I apologize if time jumps bother you!  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries. **

* * *

**Prologue- _Missing_**

"Good morning," Damon said as he kissed his wife on the forehead. She opened her eyes slowly but immediately shut them when he turned the light on.

"I'm tired," she pouted. "The baby kept kicking me in the middle of the night. I swear she's nocturnal and has a goal to break my ribs." Elena rubbed her belly as she spoke about their baby. She's 7 months pregnant and both of them can't wait to meet their little girl. Elena and Damon have been married for 2 years and dated for 3 years before he proposed.

"My little Ava is going to be a soccer star. She seems to love kicking!" He kissed Elena's protruding belly. She often complained about how she could no longer see her own feet, however he always would tell her that she was carrying their child and that made her absolutely beautiful.

"Damon, stop calling her Ava! We haven't officially decided yet."

"Come on, Lena. I know you love the name," he said while he pulled his wife into his arms.

"I do love the name but there are still 2 months until she's born. We shouldn't officially decide on a name until we are positive that we won't change it," she explained her viewpoint but Damon still kept his decision firm. They picked the name Ava a few weeks ago. They were looking at baby names on the Internet and Ava was the only one that they both agreed on. "Can you imagine? We get a bunch of books and cards and blankets with the name Ava on it and then we decide to change the name. Sorry, Gertrude, your father was very persistent with finalizing your name and he never gave me another chance to explore other options."

"You want to name our baby Gertrude?"

"Damon it was a joke!" She lightly punched his chest. He decided to fake being wounded from her punch, but she ignored his acting anyways. "Shouldn't you be heading to work?"

"Hm, why are you in such a rush to get rid of me?"

"Because I want to look at the nursery! You've been hiding it from me for weeks," she complained. Damon started working on the nursery once they found out that they were having a girl. Of course, he didn't allow Elena to enter the room because he didn't want their baby to be harmed by the paint fumes. He finally finished the nursery yesterday and ever since Elena found out that it's completed, she's been bugging him to see it.

"You can't sneak a peek even if you wanted to. I put a lock on it."

"Damon!"

"Sorry, sweetheart. But I want to look at your face when you see it for the first time. I promise I will show you tonight. I'll be home around 5."

Elena made a fake sad face but then smiled shortly after. "Okay. I can wait a few more hours. I'm going to the mall today to buy Caroline's birthday present. Hopefully that task will distract me for an hour or two after work." Elena works as a high school English teacher. She recently started working only half days because she didn't want any stress or problems with her pregnancy.

"Be safe," he said as he climbed out of the bed. He quickly checked the time, "I'm late for work! Bye, I love you."

"I love you too!" She responded and then laid her head back on the pillow for another hour until she had to get up for work.

* * *

Damon walked into their house at 6:17 and yelled out that he was sorry for being late. Elena didn't answer, so he assumed that she fell asleep or couldn't hear him. He made his way into their bedroom but she wasn't laying in their bed. "Elena?" he called out.

She didn't respond. He searched every room in the house, even in the nursery in case she'd found a way to peek inside, but she wasn't in any of them.

He called her cell phone but it went to her voicemail. "Hey, Lena. It's me. I just got home from work and I'm wondering where you are. Call me when you get this. I love you." he hung up the phone after he left her the voicemail, and then decided to go make dinner. She always appreciates it when he cooks her dinner. He prefers to be the chef anyway, since Elena has a hard time even making toaster waffles.

The clock read 7:03 after he finished making dinner. Damon called Elena's parents, Miranda and Grayson, since he remembered her saying something about visiting them. They said that they hadn't seen her, but she was supposed to stop by earlier for a quick visit and never showed up. He called Caroline and Bonnie, her best friends, but neither of them had spoken to her since 10 o'clock this morning.

A bunch of possibilities ran through his mind, but he decided that he was probably worrying too much. Knowing Elena, her phone most likely died while she was shopping.

Another hour passed and he still hadn't heard from her. Damon decided to drive over to the Gilbert's house, just in case she had stopped there since the last time he called.

He knocked on the door, but Elena didn't answer. "Hi, Damon. Elena's not here. We tried calling her as well, but her phone went straight to voicemail. Have you heard from her?" Miranda answered the door and let Damon inside.

He ran his hand through his hair. "No, I haven't heard from her either. I've tried calling her a bunch of times. Bonnie and Caroline haven't talked to her. I'm worried, I hope nothing happened involving the baby."

"The hospital would notify us if Elena was taken in. They all know that she's my daughter, and you are listed as her primary contact." Grayson said.

"I'm sure she's fine, dear." Miranda took Damon's coat from his hand. "Do you want some coffee? We can all wait around until Elena calls."

"No, thank you. I want to be home when she gets there. It's just. . . she was so excited to see the baby's room. And she said that she'd only be an hour or two at the mall. It's almost 10 o'clock now, and usually by this time she's almost falling asleep. She gets really tired because of how far along she is in her pregnancy." Damon explained. He looked at his phone and hoped that he'd see a missed call or a text message from Elena, but there wasn't one. He contemplated calling 911, but he figured she would get mad at him for calling the police just because she wasn't answering her phone.

They were all quiet for a few minutes as they waited for the phone to ring.

"Should I call the police?" Damon asked. They both said no, but he called anyways.

"911 what's your emergency?" The operator questioned.

"My wife hasn't been answering her phone. Her friends and parents haven't heard from her either. She's pregnant and was planning on coming home hours ago."

"Sir, I'm sorry but I can't file a missing persons report until after 24 hours. She is most likely doing something and will come home soon. If not, please call us back after 24 hours since her disappearance."

"But she's pregnant! And it isn't like her to leave and not call anybody." He yelled at the lady on the phone.

"I'm sorry. Please call back after 24 hours." She repeated and hung up.

Damon threw his phone because of his anger. "Dammit! Where is she?"

"Maybe she has gotten home since you left the house." Miranda suggested.

"Maybe," he agreed. He said his goodbyes and then quickly rushed out the door. Damon drove way over the speed limit, but he couldn't bring himself to care about a speeding ticket.

Elena's car was not in the driveway when he returned.

* * *

Damon's eyes burned as he saw the sun start to come up. He hadn't slept at all. He wanted to be awake to ensure that Elena came home. She never did come home, which worried him. He knew that something was wrong. Elena would never leave, especially without telling anybody.

And she was so excited to see the nursery. . .

He called his brother, Stefan, who was the CEO of Salvatore & Sons. Damon was supposed to take over the company when his father retired, but he wanted to spend more time with Elena. So instead, he let his brother be in charge. Damon still is in a high position and earns a very high salary and luckily he has lots of vacation and sick days. He used one of his sick days for today. Damon explained the situation to Stefan, and of course he let Damon have the day off. He said that he hopes Elena calls and that he'd phone Damon if he heard anything.

After waiting until 9 o'clock, when the stores at the mall opened, and then he called a bunch of stores and asked about Elena. None of them had any information which caused him to get frustrated very quickly. He tried calling the hospital, despite the fact that he knew he'd be informed if his wife was taken there.

Not knowing who else to call, he decided to drive to the Mystic Falls Mall. There weren't many cars in the parking lot since it's early for people to be shopping on a Wednesday.

He found Elena's car quickly. There were no shopping bags on the inside, and Elena was no where in sight.

"911, what's your emergency?"

"My wife is missing. She's been gone for 24 hours and I found her car in the mall parking lot."

The dispatch asked lots of questions for the report and Damon answered every single one of them to the best of his ability. He shared what he last saw her wearing, that she's pregnant, the time at which she claimed she'd be home. . .

"Okay, Mr. Salvatore. The report is complete."

And just like that, Elena Salvatore became an official missing person.

**And that's it for the prologue! Chapter 1 will be a time jump, so if you are bothered by those then I apologize. I would appreciate some feedback, since this is my first multi-chapter delena fanfic :)**

**tumblr: vampiaries**

**taylor swift (and main) twitter: callmeupagains**

**delena twitter: delenaroadtrips**

**-Hayley**


	2. Chapter 1

**I am SO sorry that it has taken me this long to update. Most of you probably don't even remember the prologue! To be honest, I completely forgot that I posted this story. I was working on it like crazy one night and decided it was a good idea to post it and then I completely forgot to write more chapters. So I sincerely apologize for the amount of time it took me to post this.**

**This story is All Human so I apologize is the characters are a little out of character.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries.**

**Chapter 1**

_~6 months later~_

Damon groaned as his alarm clock woke him from his sleep. His head was pounding, and he couldn't tell if that was because he was hungover or still drunk from the night before. It's been 6 months since Elena's disappearance and those 6 months have been filled with lots of alcohol consumption.

He spent a week calling her when she first disappeared. He left her voicemails that he knew she'd never receive. Now, he can't even call her to hear the comfort of her answering machine. Her phone battery most likely died a long time ago and her phone was probably residing somewhere where it would never be found.

Everybody in Mystic Falls knew about her disappearance. He grew to despise everyone in the town. He hated that he lived in such a small place where everybody knew that he was the husband of Elena Salvatore, previously Gilbert, who went missing 6 months ago.

People always came up to him and ask him if he heard anything. They supplied him with lots of food and dessert. He always made a scene by dumping the overload of lasagna and brownies in the trash can, but people still continued to bring it anyways.

Miranda and Grayson are also constantly getting asked about their missing daughter. They were nicer to the people than Damon was. They thanked everyone for the sympathy and said that they hope Elena will be found.

Nobody ever dares to say what they think happened to Elena. Although, many of them believe that she stopped breathing 6 months ago.

2 months after Elena went missing, Damon called every single hospital in the area. He knew that Elena would be giving birth soon, and he expected that she'd been taken to a hospital. All of Elena's friends and family told him it was a good idea, but secretly they all shared the same opinion. If Elena was still alive, and she was taken by someone, why would that person take her to a hospital where she could be recognized?

Damon tried to imagine what his daughter looked like. Every time he thought about their baby he'd get a tight knot in his stomach. The thought of Elena being captured or killed was the worst thing to imagine. But not only did he have Elena to worry about, he was constantly thinking about their daughter. Did their daughter survive when Elena gave birth to her? Or was Elena killed before she even had the chance to bring their baby into the world?

Damon hadn't slept in their bed since the night before Elena's disappearance. He kept the bed made, and promised that he would never lay in it until his wife could lay beside him. He rarely entered the nursery. The first time he went into his baby's room was 2 months after Elena went missing. He thought about how if things were different, and if Elena returned home when she was supposed to, they would be holding their baby in this room and this would be where she slept. It took him a few months after that devastating moment to enter the nursery again.

The second time he went into the nursery was also the last time he had been in it. He went in there to sit in the rocking chair and imagine an alternate world, but he found himself throwing up seconds after he entered the room. He just couldn't stomach the idea of not knowing where his wife and newborn daughter were.

"Damon? Come on, I'm taking you to work today. I was in the neighborhood." Damon's best friend, Alaric, called from the foyer. He knew that Alaric was actually checking up on him, but he appreciated that Ric tried to make an excuse.

"I'm not going to work today. I've got a killer headache." Damon groaned as he shoved his head back into his pillow.

"You have a headache because you've consumed more alcohol in the past 6 months than you have in your entire life. You need to stop with the heavy drinking, buddy. If you ever get Elena back, she won't want you to be an alcoholic." Alaric lectured Damon as he cleaned up the empty liquor bottles that were scattered around the living room.

"Oh come on! Be honest, Ric. You don't think Elena's coming back. Ever since she disappeared everybody just immediately believed she was dead. So tell me the truth for once. I can't stand all these people lying to me and telling me that Elena and I are in their prayers and then 5 minutes later they whisper about where they think her body is!" he screamed. "Tell me the truth. Do you think Elena is still out there?"

Alaric cracked his knuckles, which was a nervous habit of his. "Damon, you are late for work."

Damon got up from the couch and threw one of the empty bottles. It shattered into a bunch of little pieces. "Answer the god damn question."

"I- I want her to still be alive. I hope for everyone's sake that she is alive and that your daughter made it too." he took a deep breath before continuing. "But, Damon, she's been gone for _six months _and nobody has heard anything. If somebody kidnapped her, they'd ask for a ransom. Everyone knows that you are rich. I mean, it's horrible to think that she is dead, but I think you need to prepare yourself for the possibility."

"I know that it's crazy to think that she's still out there. But I'll never stop believing that there is a chance. She's my wife and if she's out there, she's terrified." Damon said. His voice cracked, but he tried not too let any tears fall. "It scares me to think about where she is. I mean, what if I never know? I can't spend my whole life with this constant pit in my stomach."

They were both silent for a moment until Alaric finally broke the silence. "I'll tell Stefan that you need the day off."

Damon watched as Alaric walked out the door and then he thought about what Alaric said. He threw up at the thought of having to identify Elena's rotting corpse.

**I know it's short. I'm sorry! This chapter was really just meant to show what state Damon is in.**

**I have the majority of this story planned out. It will be very short (around 7-10 chapters) and will contain a few time jumps. I'm not planning on dragging this story out, which is why events will happen quickly and I won't go into too much detail on Damon's everyday life (aka I'm more focused on him finding Elena and them reuniting).**

**Next chapter we see what Elena has been up to.**

**Tumblr: vampiaries**

**twitter: callmeupagains**

**-Hayley**


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